Letter from Washington To Democrats Abroad
30 April 2018
Tom Fina, Executive Director Emeritus
Democrats are singing:
Oh, what a beautiful mornin’
Oh, what a beautiful day
I’ve got a beautiful feelin’
Everything’s goin’ my way.
Even if Oklahoma has a Republican governor. Republicans have lost support in every special election since Trump became President.
That is an ill omen for them in the November Congressional elections in which Democrats are expected to replace the Republican majority. Trump has energized Democratic and Independent voters and sapped the enthusiasm of many reliable Republicans...
The roaring success of Democrats in the November 2017 elections to the Virginia legislature is further energizing Democrats. Although the Presidential election is still 31 months distant, Democrats are falling over each other to get the nomination to run against Trump. Not many Republicans are interested in challenging him.
Ballotpedia, the non-partisan on-line political encyclopedia, has just pulled together its list of potential presidential candidates for both parties. It lists 39 Democratic political and 10 business and public figures many of whom probably neither you nor I have thought to be in the running. Ballotpedia suggests only 11 Republicans who might challenge Trump.
Only someone intoxicated by the Spring air drifting south of the Potomac would risk guessing who might make the cut. So, my guess would narrow the Democratic politican list: Joe Biden; Eric Garcetti, mayor of Los Angeles; Kamala Harris, senator CA; Jerry Brown, governor CA; Cory Booker, senator NJ; Sherrod Brown, senator OH; Bill de Blasio, mayor New York; Kirsten Gillibrand, senator NY; Mitch Landrieu, mayor New Orleans; Terry McAuliffe, former governor VA.
Looking at the possible public figures, Jamie Dimon, CEO of JPMorgan Chase, Bill Gates, and Howard Schultz ( former CEO Starbucks) might make the leap. Did you know they were Democrats?
Among the 11 potential Republican politicians, I would guess that only Bob Corker, senator TN; Jeff Flake, senator AZ; John Kasich, governor OH and Mitt Romney, former governor MA would take a chance.
If Trump were not the candidate, Mike Pence would certainly belong on the list. The more immediate focus of both parties is the November 2018 congressional election in which all seats in the House and 35 seats in the senate will be contested.
The latest generic congressional polling (April 30) gives Democrats a 8.2 point lead. A lead of 7 points is generally predictive of a House majority. Democrats need to pick up two seats in November to have a Senate majority.
The psychopath in the White House is not being of much help to Republican candidates. The political guru take is that his support for Republican candidates does more to energize Democrats to vote against them than it brings out Republicans to support them.
To conclude on a high note, the May 1 Washington Post finds that in the 466 days since he took office, Trump has made 3001 false or misleading claims. That’s an average of 6.5 lies a day and the frequency is increasing. Have a nice day!
Comments: [email protected]
DA Guatemala
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